No plans, sticking to them

Apologies for the long lag in posting. Good summer for me hosting at the Oak Bay Campground and I plan to return next year. For now though, Island Girl, Brissy the cat, and I are on the loose for five months with only a general idea of getting someplace warmer for the winter.

 

There is this particularly great site at the Kalaloch campground in Olympic National Park, D-24. It is the only one in the loop that still manages to hang on to the bluff over the beach. We had it for four days.

 

Bris had never ever seen a litterbox this big.

 

 

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A New Beginning with Another Ride on a Ferry

Last Thursday I said a bunch of goodbyes—didn’t lose it until the last one late in the day.  Pam and I had moved onto our sailboat nearly 24 years ago in Blaine and there are a lot of friends there.

Friday, Brissy and I hooked up Island Girl and made the short trip to Deception Pass State Park.  Haven’t camped there since sometime in the early 80’s when I did it by bicycle and it is still just as stunning.

The bridges were in part a Civilian Conservation Corps work project during the Depression.

Of course it was windy and rainy just as soon as we found our campsite, but that was OK.

On Sunday while waiting for the Port Townsend ferry one of the crewmembers  asked about the trailer.  That worked out well as we were first on the ferry with Bris looking out to make sure nobody got too close.

We were headed for a little county campground just south of Port Townsend called Oak Bay where I’ll be the host for the season.

The flamingos have landed and the anchor is down, so we’re all set. 

The campground was also a CCC project during the Depression. There are also a few campsites on the spit in the background.  Lots of birds,  a view of Mt. Ranier on a clear day and a pretty fantastic place for my kayak.

I’ll be here all season but should be able to get away to the Olympics a few times.  Feel good about it and think it should help me as I continue through the grieving process and start to put my life back together again.  Things are OK.   Hopefully we’ll see a few Airstreams in here this summer.

-steve

I Will Miss Her So Much

-steve

The Pullout Pantry

Pam and Brissy the Cat and I are four and a half months into fulltiming in Island Girl now.  I hadn’t really planned on the trailer being able to operate in the cold, but we’ve been doing ok.  Everything works the way I wanted  and I haven’t found anything that needs to be changed.

Work is mostly done with the last fairly big project being the pullout pantry in the old broom closet.

I used a heavy bottom slider and a guide for the top from Rockler.  The sides are just simple one inch aluminum  stock from the hardware store.

The top guide mounts to a simple shelf over the top of the pantry unit.

The original door got reused.

I now have lots and lots of storage and the broom found a home in the wardrobe closet.

Island Girl Takes Another Ferry Ride

Very early and dark on Tuesday morning we headed for Anacortes to make the 0930 ferry to Lopez Island where my trailer spent many of her years.

Fog in Anacortes soon gave way to nice warm and sunny skies as we made the forty minute trip to Lopez.

Even though we’ve sailed in the San Juan Islands for years, I’d not been on Lopez since around 1980 when I was touring on my bicycle.  I’d forgotten how beautiful it is.  Island Girl’s former home actually has shoreline on both the front and back of the property.  We backed in behind Harold and Kathy’s motorhome, just a few feet from the water and surrounded by Douglas Fir and the distinctive Madrona tree, common in these islands.

Edith has her 94th birthday next month.  I know she was excited to see her old trailer again, but I don’t think she could have been more excited than I was.  Meeting her is really special to me.  I know the trailer is just a collection of aluminum bits and pieces, but it was an important part of the lives of those who have used her before me.  She’s taken great trips, served as a home (just as she’s doing now for Pam and me), and even for Harold and Kathy’s honeymoon.

Edith is a cat person, like me.  My Brissy is not the first cat to travel in the trailer.  She is adjusting well to the move from her sailboat, but it has been a huge change for a cat who has spent her life on a boat.  She had a fun two days too, walking on her leash, just like Edith told me she had done with her Siamese cats.

But Brissy was more than ready for a nap while waiting for the ferry for the return trip home this afternoon.

Those of us that love these old trailers really do so because of people.  We love the old aluminum and the way it shines, but we feel a connection to the guys that put them together at the factory.  And, we feel a connection to the people who have owned and used the trailers in the past.  It is about aluminum, but it’s mostly about people.  I feel so honored to have been able to make that special connection this week.

-steve

Something Really Cool

We took the trailer to our first rally last year at the Tin Can Tourist Rally in Lynden, WA, only twelve miles away.  Island Girl was an empty shell then, Alzheimer’s wouldn’t let us stay, and the weather was lousy.  This year we got to do it right with a nearly complete trailer, and no problems from Alzheimer’s as we’re living in the trailer fulltime anyway.  And, the weather was perfect.  Lynden is a great, laid back rally where everyone is just into old trailers and some cool old cars as well.

Saturday afternoon a fella came to the door who greeted me with “You have no idea who I am.”  When he said his name, though, I did know him as Harold was the son of the original owners of the trailer.  He and his wife (they celebrated their honeymoon in the trailer) were visiting friends, had no knowledge of the rally, but happened to drive by when their planned route was closed for construction.  They figured they’d just take a drive through the fairgrounds and look at some trailers, but happened to drive by one that was the same model his family had owned.
But, he saw the wheels and knew it was the trailer, not just the model.  If you’ve followed this blog, you know we’d earlier made an email and telephone connection.  He’d seen pictures and knew, even though we’d not been in contact for a year or so.

He and his mom have been on my mind.  We’d  earlier made tentative plans to ride the ferry out to Lopez Island to let her see her trailer when we got done with the work.  The weather is good, things are fairly stable with Pam, so it’s a good time to make the trip, especially since Harold and Kathy are heading to Lopez for a month to celebrate his Mom’s 94th birthday.  We’re going to try really hard to make the trip out there next week.
Very very hard to wipe the smile off my face right now.

Swallowing the Anchor

is the term for a sailor moving ashore.  We’ve now swallowed ours after almost 23 years aboard our little 31’ cutter.  We’re three weeks into life on Island Girl, our new yacht.  Three hectic weeks, especially for Brissy the cat and me, but thankfully Pam has made an easy transition.  It is a necessary change for us, but it is a big one.

The boat will soon be for sale, but I am so lucky that we were able to do so much more with her than we ever dreamed.  Pam was able to experience all of a sailing voyage around the world and I have my memories of it.

First winter aboard in 1988.  Nothing worked.  We knew nothing.

Tracy Arm in Alaska, 1996.

Baja, Mexico, 1997.

On passage to Galapagos, 1998.

A very dirty hull after a 30 day passage to the Marquesas, 1998.

Paradise on Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, 1998.

Pago Pago Yacht Club in American Samoa in late 1998.

Approaching South Africa, 2002.

Haulout in Richards Bay, South Africa, Christmas, 2002.

The fabulous game park near Richards Bay, 2003.

Thousands of dolphins passing by us in a feeding frenzy as we near Cape Town, 2003.

The best sailing in the world, South Atlantic, 2003.

The crew that helped us through the Panama Canal, 2004.

* * * * * * *

And the new home is going to be just fine.